The health secretary has announced that the way patient safety is regulated and monitored in England is to be overhauled.
Six key organisations are to be reviewed: the CQC; the National Guardian's Office; Healthwatch England; the Health Services Safety Investigations Body; the Patient Safety Commissioner; and NHS Resolution.
The focus of the review will be on how the organisations can work together.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has been told to focus more on key services such as hospitals, GPs and social care, after an interim report in July said it was failing.
A final report has just been published, led by Dr Penny Dash. Dash's reports found that the CQC lacked focus, with inexperienced inspectors. There was also a backlog of inspections.
Ian Dilks, Chair of CQC, said: “We welcome the final part of Dr Penny Dash’s review – we accept the findings and we will address the recommendations with urgency. Today also sees the publication of the review we commissioned from Professor Sir Mike Richards – we are extremely grateful to Sir Mike for his helpful work and will be using his recommendations to help us respond to the serious failings identified by Dr Penny Dash. His review also offers additional suggestions for improvement that we will be exploring as part of our wider recovery work.
“Both reviews have reaffirmed the support for a robust health and care regulator and recognised the dedication and experience of CQC staff. We are committed to rebuilding trust in CQC’s regulation and are taking action to make sure we have the right structure, processes, and technology in place to help us fulfil our vital role of helping people get good care and supporting providers to improve.”
Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive, NHS Providers, said: “Keeping patients safe is the number one priority for NHS trust leaders.
“Trust leaders have said for some time that the regulator needs urgent reform. Restoring the CQC’s credibility will take a lot of work.
“Regulation of NHS services is important but to add value it needs effective leadership, the right expertise and a focus on what really matters. We have highlighted that the CQC must concentrate more on support and improvement.
“With two new reviews announced which will focus on patient safety and quality, trust leaders are ready and willing to work with the CQC and all other key organisations as they strive to provide high-quality services for patients and in their quest to keep improving and innovating.”
